More From Gary Crabtree

The Lord works in mysterious ways, and God’s way is always wonderful. It has been eight years since God first prompted me to look at a found penny differently than I had in the past. As I was leaving the grocery store that particular morning, I spotted the coin on the floor near the exit and stopped to pick it up. These words came to my mind: “Pray for the one who lost it.” I did pray. At that moment, the coin became more than a lost cent.

I realized that I couldn’t view that coin as just another bit of metal to be cashed in. The coin now had a connection to a person, to a parable, and to a prayer, making it much too precious to spend. When I arrived at home, I found an empty jar and deposited the coin for safekeeping.

God opened my eyes to see the parable of the lost coin recorded in Luke 15:8-10 in a new way. I found myself becoming alert and watchful for other “lost ones” whether in the grocery, at the mall, or on the sidewalk. Hardly a week went by without me finding another coin or two and praying another blessing or two before dropping the coins into my jar.

For the first six years of this eight-year journey I kept this all to myself . . . you know . . . the “praying in secret” routine. Then another prompting came, “Tell someone.” After a bit of hesitation, I finally told my wife. She then encouraged me to tell more people. And so, I wrote my devotional piece.

Three weeks ago, I shared the devotional with my 13-year-old granddaughter, Isabel. She was interested and curious, so she asked me a question that I couldn’t answer. “How many have you found and prayed for?” I told her that I could only answer her question if she would help me find out. I retrieved the jar, emptying half for her to count and half for me. When we finished counting, we added our halves and got a total of 462. We were both amazed. Finding one or two coins each week for eight years has added up more quickly than I would have expected. So has the faith; so have the prayers; so have the blessings along the way. The jar still has room for more. Thank the Lord.